Two men, aged 46 and 60, were arrested while they were unloading boxes in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, a police source said on Sunday.
One of them said he was a business owner and had bought the masks, including 5,000 FFP2 protective masks, in the Netherlands for a total of 80,000 euros.
The masks were to be sold to construction companies for a large profit, according to police.
Black market
It is the largest seizure since the French government banned the resale of protective masks on 3 March in order to prioritise their distribution to health workers in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Face masks from China intended for France 'hijacked' by US at the last minute
- Two detained in Paris for hoarding face masks
In March, 32,500 masks from China were seized from a warehouse near Paris. A man was also arrested in possession of more than 23,000 face masks in Paris' 16th arrondissement.
